A readable guide book for basement inventors

Norman Nopper, a management consultant in Markham, Ont., who has a background in both business and education, injects this short guidebook with insight drawn from working with his brother Roland to commercialize an invention that improves safety for forklift drivers

From Innovation to Invoice: 6 critical actions to turn your invention into a business — A guidebook for basement and garage inventors

By Norman S. Nopper

Varanor International order online at fromi2i.com 2013. $23.95, includes shipping, 105 pp.

Norman Nopper, a management consultant in Markham, Ont., who has a background in both business and education, injects this short guidebook with insight drawn from working with his brother Roland to commercialize an invention that improves safety for forklift drivers.

There are plenty of how-to guides for new entrepreneurs out there: This one is geared to basement tinkerers who have created something worth bringing to market but aren’t sure how to get started.

Nopper lays out a six-step “commercialization check-list” to help inventors prove they have a product with commercial potential; demonstrate that it is technically sound and can be manufactured in quantity; protect their intellectual property; recruit a solid team; and raise the required capital. He suggests ways to do as much of this yourself as possible, both to keep costs down and to retain control of your invention.

Losing ownership of something you’ve devoted years to developing is one of the hazards of commercializing a pet project. Nopper emphasizes that keeping your mouth shut and not talking/bragging about what you’re up to is the cheapest and most effective way to protect your intellectual property, along with being cautious and performing due diligence in selecting advisors, partners and, eventually, staff.

He includes a sample non-disclosure agreement and urges entrepreneurs to use it.

Nopper’s introduction says he hoped to write a “readable book that provides the essentials” and he succeeded.